Improved creep performance of melt‐extruded polycaprolactone/organo‐bentonite nanocomposites

In this work, biodegradable nanocomposites based on polycaprolactone reinforced with pristine and organo-modified bentonites are prepared by melt extrusion. Bentonite is exchanged with benzalkonium chloride (CBK) in a pilot plant scale reactor. The influence of clay type and loading on morphology, rheology, mechanical properties, and creep performance of the resulting materials is analyzed. Besides, several theoretical models then applied to experimental creep data and master curves are used to relate time and temperature with the compliance of the materials. The morphology characterization of the nanocomposites show that the organo-modification of the clay greatly improves its dispersion in the polymer matrix. As a consequence, it is demonstrated that reinforcement of PCL with 3 wt% loading of organoclay produces the strongest improvement in creep resistance. The instantaneous creep strain and the experimental creep rate decrease more than 9% and 27%, respectively, in the range of temperatures analyzed. Moreover, the experimental values are used to adequately fit theoretical creep models for different clay loadings. On the other hand, the material with optimal creep behavior also shows the greatest improvements in tensile mechanical properties.